So I've started a new job, my first job since finishing

Why don't you like it?

>>17517863
>total opposite to what i was looking at
>dirty as fuck
>hazards everywhere
>employers dont care about safety at all, no fire extinguishers in sight and they skipped the safety induction at the start
>fast and loose with almost every rule
>still no word on what my official wages are
>fored into situations that im not trained in and have no knowledge of
>forced into situations that i have phobias of

Among other things. I'm trying to handle it but I'm wearing out fast.

>>17517869
What are you even doing? Do you have some sort of employment relations authority you can get in contact with?

>>17517873
Trainee Mechanic (I offhand mentioned I liked cars one and then the agency got it for me). I'm thinking about contacting them and trying to figure out what to do but I know they're going to be pissed about it, just like my family will be too and of course work will be pissed too. But I don't think I can keep doing this.

What sort of job are you doing?

I've worked a bunch of jobs. I've got to say that a certain mindset prevailed when I was younger, one in which jobs were supposed to be enjoyable, fulfilling with a meaningful purpose and employers were supposed to be supportive, benevolent and kind.

As a result plenty of jobs broke these unspoken rules which carried no weight except inside my own head and as I said, I've had a lot of jobs.

So it could be your expectations, it could be a shitty job/company. What job is it?

>>17517883
Mentioned above here >>17517883

Before this I was mostly studying business and was looking for either a desk job or even something in retail. The mechanic thing went completely the other way and it's just not right for me.

>>17517886
I'm a regional manager in retail and I'd kill to move into a more practical and especially highly paid role. The systemic problems with retail?

It is a dying industry. Online shopping and automated systems are basically turning the remaining roles which survive into not only low paid roles, but ones with constant low staffing with the expectation that you will now do everything. Look at stores like Aldi or Lidl, Screwfix or Toolstation, they run on less than 10 staff. Look at the amount of click and collect systems and self checkouts.

Tons of companies are failing to adapt to the shift in the market and are going under all the time. Here in the UK we've lost Woolworths, BHS, Homebase, HMV, Zara, there are so many more, but basically the retail market is in terminal decline because the staffing element is suddenly looking so expensive.

Where I work, we are struggling to adapt and upper management are trying to keep afloat under the 'old rules' as long as possible which basically means continual cost cutting (staffing cuts at the front line) which puts pressure on the remaining staff to continue to maintain the same minimum standards.

At the same time management are trying to force a culture where people who can make it work are quickly swapped out for those who can't so are changing job roles to become heavily performance managed (show improvement or you are gone) which is slightly slowing the decline at the expense of high staff turnover and falling standards of service.

New staff aren't at the required level, some of them just talk a good talk and this is causing massive increases in stress without any extra pay for those who can and have been doing it already as they have to pick up more and more.

Anybody good is looking for another job which further takes key individuals out of the business. Most of my time is taken performance managing otherwise ok people relative to what we pay out of jobs instead of focusing on opportunities for growth.

>>17517914
Well if retail is dead, what do I do? Honestly at this point I'd be happy being a kitchen hand or stocking shelves at Woolworths.

>>17517886
Also retail pays awfully compared to other industries and the skills make it very hard to transfer out of retail after any significant length of time. People just don't respect it.

As a regional manager I earn half of what my girlfriend earns. I currently earn a little less than she did working an entry level administration role for a local solicitors while having to oversee two stores and have to have a business plan to cover a fairly huge geographic region.

At the top the pay is ok, but everybody below that level is basically being worked with all stick and no carrot. I can't think of a single positive except it is a clean job which could be done if you've a minor physical disability or similar.

Also I'm embarrassed by my job. People think I'm doing really well and I must earn 2-3 times what I do based on the prestige of the company and how much I have to do. Close friends who actually know the whole story are constantly telling me to get another job.

I've been trying to move over to the service division for a while now as I'm quite a hands on person, I work on my own car, my father was a mechanic and as I've said before I've had a lot of different jobs in the past. We get involved sometimes on site and we carry out installation work and I'll help out as much as possible with the engineers when needed.

Doing a manual job is culturally very different and kind of terrifying to the uninitiated and while poor work cultures exist (being called gay for wanting to use protective equipment, being harassed for having 'soft hands') I was genuinely surprised at just how physical and messy some of that shit can be.

A lot of it is common sense and learning to mirror the teams dynamic, but I can relate because I typically find the 'banter' on site to be nauseating.

>>17517930
I think if you are planning on giving it another few weeks to see if it improves then you are doing all you can. If you are prepared to work in a kitchen or stock shelves then great, even if you do leave you shouldn't find it too difficult to find another job if your criteria is broad enough to include basically anything low paid with low opportunities for advancement.

Thing is, you come across as a kind of anxious person with talk of your anxieties and phobias, being forced into situations, not being able to confront your employer, the agency and the fear of your friends and families reactions. I'm trying to get across that 'blue collar' jobs typically have a fairly rough induction because the people who work them don't get anxieties or insecurities or even showing vulnerably and young people in their first jobs typically are anxious, insecure and concerned as to what is expected and part of this is normal.

I'm also trying to get across that working in a shop is a dying industry and it isn't just standing behind a counter any more and if it is, expect to find another job soon because the company will fold or manage you out of the business.

I mean, they've opened a huge three floor 24/7 Mcdonalds here and it looks like it runs on 5 staff. They run around like blue arse flies for their minimum wage. I remember places like that used to have dozens of staff on.

Don't quit until you find another job.

Experience is experience

>>17517959
Your insight feels pretty spot on. I still don't know what to do though, especially now if my main plan is doomed if the industry is failing. But at the same time I just can't do really hands on blue collar dirty work. I really am an odd one out at work since of course I have the whole soft hands and safety at all times mindset, plus the workplace banter is also pretty alien for me.

>>17517969
I've only been at the job for a week and as such have no references. I plan on looking for a job in my spare time but I think no references plus only one week in a job will look pretty bad to a potential employer.

>>17517930
I'd also say that being a mechanic is not a bad trade to get into. Yeah you'll wear your body out and get dirty and exposed to hazards, but you'll have transferable skills and you will learn things which will allow you to improve your everyday life. It depends what sort of mechanics role it is and what sector, but you might find an opportunity within it to branch out into something less physical such as diagnostics or specialising in electrical fault finding.

I remember the first time doing jobs on my car and having to quickly realise that 'carefully release and remove driveshaft from the differential housing by manipulating the cv joint' translates as put a big fucking bar on a groove in the cv joint housing and beat it with a lump hammer. Pretty much the same with everything. 'Undo the clamp and applying no more than 10 degrees longitudinal motion slide the rear silencer off the mid pipe' translates to operate an angle grinder 2" from your face to score the whole clamp and silencer pipe like a piece of pork skin while shielding the fuel tank with an old bit of sharp metal then beating out the fire in your beard before beating the ever loving shit out of the silencer until it falls on your face.

>>17517982
I'm learning a little but the vehicles I work on are ones that I'll probably never be driving at any point and as such are different to regular cars. I enjoy doing a little work on my own cars but the amount of dirt and hazards is significantly lower at home than it is at work. I just can't do dirty work, it is honestly a phobia that I developed from getting extremely ill when I was a child.

Right now I'm like a person that's absolutely terrified of lions that's just been asked to work as the feed guy.

>>17517982
Also remember removing the battery and the battery tray to get access to the gearbox from above to change a clutch. The battery had spilt or leaked at some point and as a result the whole area was pretty badly corroded. I was spending maybe 10 minutes trying to get a socket on as they were all pretty fucked because of the corrosion and out of nowhere this guy smashes one of the bolts off with a chisel and lump hammer close to my fingers.

I'm shouting at him because he scared the shit out of me and it wouldn't have cost him much to just ask me to move, he is shouting at me for 'pissing about with it' and I'm trying to say how I don't know I'm 'pissing about with it' unless he says so because I'm learning as I go and he starts calling me Harry Potter because I wear glasses.

I'm thinking, this dude is in his mid 50's. Everyone else just thought it was funny.

I get what you mean. We dismantle appliances which contain material which should be treated as potentially containing asbestos. Some of the older engineers laugh at me because I don't want to be around it without personal protective equipment on and will try and mock me right in front of customers. Thing is, the customer might laugh along because the guy is a senior engineer, but they soon leave the fucking area when they see what is involved and while this engineer might get to make fun of me that time, every single person in the company knows who the complete penis is at the end of the day.

The guy won't change because to do so would be to admit that he has been breathing that shit in for the last 30 years and he shouldn't have been. I can understand and humanise the reasons for his defensive attitude, but I don't think I'd get the same in return, he'd likely attack me or fuck with me if I tried to imply he had feels.

I once worked with a guy who called me gay for eating a yoghurt with a spoon.

>>17517993
Talk to your family then senpai. I'm assuming that you are still living at home so they'll have to support you in this decision otherwise it'll be another source of stress and potential argument.

Explain your reasons, maybe start looking for another job already. Explain that the idea of going into work is making you feel sick and the workplace environment and culture is going to eat you alive as a result. Explain that you are going to try another couple of weeks as well to make sure it isn't just some sort of hazing or initiation thing.

As a guy in his 30's who has had a lot of jobs and currently feels trapped in retail and has a fair bit of education and insight into the economy and stuff though I'd be looking to secure a more practical hands on role if I was in your shoes. People will always need dirty dangerous jobs doing, office jobs, retail work, low skill service sector work is at extreme risk of automation over the next decade.

>>17518023
I've talked to them a little and opinion is divided. My father has always been wanting me to do really typically masculine stuff and I did get an offer at a cafe but both the agency and my father told me to do the auto one. My mother is more understanding since she knows of my phobias and anxieties but even then she still thinks I should just tough it out.

I feel like the job will eat me alive though and I really feel like I need to get out asap.Are there any alternatives you can suggest? I realize retail is out but surely there are some similar areas? I've applied at a few restaurants as kitchenhand/waiter etc but beyond all that I'm blank on what other starter jobs that are out there.

>>17518039
Dude I've no idea what jobs are in your local area. I just know that jobs like washing up in kitchens, waiting tables, stacking shelves etc have next to no room for advancement and will not really pay the bills in the long run, they aren't careers, they typically have high staff turnover intentionally built into the roles because they burn people out and they don't have great transferable skills except 'i turned up all/most of the time to a job in a fit state to work'.

I did a shit load of factory work. Egg packing. Commercial bakery. Commercial food preparation. Mattress manufacturing. Furniture upholstery. Commercial dairy. Box/pallet manufacturing. Processed meat production. I moved around these jobs a lot because they were awful, low paid, hard work, low skilled and generally terrible people.

I did some light engineering work, running a CNC mill, checking parts for tolerances, manufacturing and batch testing rubber and polymer compounds, working on a lathe. These jobs I wish I'd stuck at, but I was more concerned with my band and studying.

I did some minor construction work, kitchen fitting, shop fitting, site labouring, exterior painting and decorating. This wasn't bad and was well paid, but I took the money and went travelling when I got bored.

I worked in a petrol station. I cleaned offices. I cleaned shops. This is what led into retail which was part time while at university. By the time I finished university the company I was with wanted me full time, then assistant manager, then manager, then regional manager. This is why I now feel trapped.

I had a brief stint in a call centre as well. Like a week. Couldn't handle that shit. Unprofessional and generally awful.

>>17518039
Just suck it up. If you are shit they will fire you in 3 months and it will look more reasonable on a resume when you say it wasn't for you. or you will git gud and it won't be so bad. Then you will have some great experience and a skill that will help you get a better job if you decide to leave.

>>17518051
have a look at what he said here
>>17517869

it sounds like theres some serious issues at that place

>>17518055
It sounds like he's a little bitch. If he can't handle it he'll get fired soon. maybe he'll get lucky and get hurt and get workman's comp.